Healer's Hands
by knightoftheroundtable14
Summary: Two hundred years ago, a bargain was struck. In exchange for the ultimate defeat of the Darkling, Grisha power would be extinguished. No Grisha has been born since. Aly Peters is running when she discovers she's a demigod. Now, she's on a quest to rescue Hera, but her past is threatening to surface, and her friends are suspicious. Can she uncover the truth in all of the lies?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own _Heroes of Olympus _or any of the _Grishaverse_. Those works belong to Rick Riordan and Leigh Bardugo respectively. I only own my OC, and the idea to combine them. I am not making any money, this is purely for entertainment purposes. That being said, please enjoy!

_No mourners, no funerals_

**Book 1: The Lost Hero**

**Jason l**

Even before he got electrocuted, Jason was having a rotten day.

He woke up in the back of a school bus, not sure where he was, holding hands with a girl he didn't know. That wasn't the rotten part. The girl _was_ cute, but he couldn't figure out who she was or what he was doing there. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to think.

A few dozen kids sat in the seats in front of them, listening to iPods, talking, or sleeping. They all looked around his age… fifteen? Sixteen? Okay, that was scary. He couldn't remember his own age.

The bus rumbled along a bumpy road. Out of the window, desert rolled by under a bright blue sky. Jason was pretty sure he didn't live in a desert. He tried to think back… the last thing he remembered…

The girl squeezed his hand. "Jason, you okay?"

She wore faded jeans, hiking boots, and a fleece snowboarding jacket. Her chocolate brown hair was cut choppy and uneaven, with thin strands braided down the sides. She wore no makeup like she was trying not to draw attention to herself, but it didn't work. She was seriously pretty. Her eyes seemed to change color-brown, blue, and green.

Jason let go of her hand. "Um, I don't-"

In the front of the bus, a teacher shouted, "All right, cupcakes, listen up!"

The guy was obviously a coach. His baseball cap was pulled low over his hair, so you could just see his beady eyes. He had a wispy goatee and a sour face, like he'd eaten something moldy. His buff arms and chest pushed against a bright orange polo shirt. His nylon workout pants and Nikes were spotlessly white. A whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. He would've looked pretty scary if he hadn't been five foot zero. When he stood up in the aisle, one of the kids yelled, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"

"I heard that!" The coach scanned the bus for the offender. Then his eyes fixed on Jason, and his scowl deepened.

A jolt went down Jason's spine. He was sure the coach knew he didn't belong there. He was going to call Jason out, demand to know what he was doing on the bus- and Jason wouldn't have a clue what to say.

But Coach Hedge looked away and cleared his throat. "We'll be there in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes causes trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way."

He picked up a baseball bat and mimed hitting a homer.

Jason looked at the girl next to him. "Can he talk to us that way?"

She shrugged. "Always does. This is the Wilderness School. 'Where kids are animals.'"

She said it like it was a joke they'd shared before.

"This is some kind of mistake." Jason said. "I'm not supposed to be here."

The boy in front of him turned and laughed. "Yeah, right, Jason. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times. Piper didn't steal a BMW."

The girl blushed. "I didn't steal that car, Leo!"

"Oh, I forgot, Piper. What was your story? You 'talked' the dealer into lending it to you?" He raised his eyebrows at Jason like, _Can you believe her? _

Leo looked like a Latino Santa's elf, with curly black hair, pointy ears, and a mischievous smile that told you right away this guy could not be trusted around matches or sharp objects. His long, nimble fingers wouldn't stop moving-drumming on the seat, sweeping his hair behind his ears, fiddling with the buttons of his army fatigue jacket. Either the kid was naturally hyper or he was hopped up on an amount of sugar and caffeine that would give a heart attack to a water buffalo.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Leo asked. "Someone draw on my face again?"

"I don't know you." Jason said.

Leo gave him a crocodile grin. "Sure. I'm not your best friend. I'm his evil clone."

"Leo Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "Is there a problem back there?"

Leo winked at Jason. "Watch this." He turned back to the front. "Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone, please?"

Coach Heage grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the megaphone from his belt, and continued giving directions, but his voice came out like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up. The coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blared: "The cow says moo!"

The kids howled and the coach slammed down the megaphone. "Valdez!"

Piper stifled a laugh. "My god, Leo. How did you do that?"

Leo slipped a tiny Phillips screwdriver from his sleeve. "I'm a special boy."

"Guys, seriously." Jason pleaded. "What am I doing here? Where are we going?"

Piper knit her eyebrows. "Jason, are you joking?"

"No! I have no idea-"

"Aw, yeah, he's joking." Leo said. "He's trying to get me back for that shaving cream on the Jell-O thing, aren't you?"

Jason stared at him blankly.

"No, I think he's serious." Piper tried to take his hand again, but he pulled it away.

"I'm sorry." he said. "I don't-I can't-"

"That's it!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "The back row has just volunteered to clean up after lunch!"

The rest of the kids cheered.

"There's a shocker." Leo muttered.

But Piper kept her eyes on Jason, like she couldn't decide whether to be hurt or worried. "Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"

Jason shook his head miserably. "It's worse than that. I don't know who _I_ am."

The bus dropped them off in front of the museum, which was just sitting in the middle of nowhere. Maybe that was what it was: the National Museum of Nowhere, Jason thought. A cold wind blew across the desert. Jason hadn't been paying much attention to what he was wearing, but it wasn't nearly warm enough: jeans and sneakers, a purple T-shirt, and a thin black windbreaker.

"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo said, in a helpful tone that made Jason think this was not going to be helpful. "We go to the 'Wilderness School'" Leo made air quotes with his fingers. "Which means we're 'bad kids'. Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison-sorry, boarding school-in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat we go on 'educational field trips' with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Coming back?"

"No." Jason glanced apprehensively at the other kids: maybe twenty guys, half as many girls. None of them looked like hardened criminals, but he wondered what they'd all done to get sentenced to a school for delinquents, and he wondered why he belonged with them.

Leo rolled his eyes. "You're really gonna play this out, huh? Okay, so the three of us started here together this semester. We're totally tight. You do everything I say and give me your dessert and do my chores-"

"Leo!" Piper snapped.

"Fine. Ignore the last part. But we _are_ friends. Well, Piper's been a little more than your friend, these past few weeks-"

"Leo, stop it!" Piper's face turned red. Jason could feel his face burning too. He thought he'd remember going out with a girl like Piper.

"He's got amnesia or something." Piper said. "We've got to tell somebody."

Leo scoffed. "Who, Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix Jason by whacking him upside the head."

The coach was at the front of the group, barking orders and blowing his whistle to keep the kids in line; but every so often, he'd glance back at Jason and scowl.

"Leo, Jason needs help." Piper insisted. "He's got a concussion or-"

"Yo, Piper." One of the other guys dropped back to talk to them. The new guy wedged himself in between Jason and Piper and knocked Leo down. "Don't talk to these bottom-feeders. You're my partner, remember?"

He had dark hair cut Superman style, a deep tan, and teeth so white they should've come with a warning label: Do Not Stare Directly at Teeth, Permanent Blindness May Occur. He wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey, Western jeans and boots, and he smiled like he was God's gift to juvenile delinquent girls everywhere. Jason hated him on sight.

"Go away, Dylan." Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to work with you."

"Aw, that's no way to be. This is your lucky day!" Dylan hooked one arm through hers and dragged her through the museum entrance. Piper shot one last look over her shoulder like, _911_.

Leo got up and brushed himself off. "I hate that guy." He offered Jason his arm. "I'm Dylan. I'm so cool, I want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! Wanna date me instead? You're so lucky!"

"Leo," Jason said. "You're weird."

"Yeah, you tell me that a lot." Leo grinned. Then, his eyes caught one of the girls ahead of them. "I better go catch my partner. Wish me luck!" With one final wink, he was off.

Jason stayed rooted to the spot. His head just wouldn't stop spinning. What was going on? Why was he here, at the Wilderness School? Had he done something terrible? Why couldn't he remember?

"-son. Jason!" Fingers snapping under his nose brought Jason out of his reverie. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and focused on the girl in front of him. She frowned at him, her eyes full of concern. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Looking at her, Jason felt as though _he_ should be asking her that question. She was tiny, only an inch or two taller than Coach Hedge. Her light brown hair had clearly been chopped off and was in the process of growing back. Curls framed her face and fell into her green eyes, which were marred by dark circles. She was pale, almost unnaturally so, and her small form was practically swallowed by the huge green sweatshirt she was wearing, along with ripped jeans, and scuffed up Converse. All in all, it made her look impossibly young.

Jason frowned. "Um, who are you?"

The girl knit her eyebrows. "I'm Aly. We're partners, remember?"

_No, I don't! _Jason wanted to scream. Instead, he forced a smile on his face. "Yeah, sorry. Today's been a little weird."

Aly gave him a suspicious look, but she seemed to mostly buy it. Or maybe she just didn't care. "Okay. Let's go then."

She turned and headed for the museum enterance.

Everything in Jason wanted to run as fast as he could in the opposite direction, but he needed answers and this was where he would get them. With a sigh, he followd Aly into the museum.

They walked through the building, stopping here and there for Coach Hedge to lecture them with his megaphone, which alternately made him sound like a Sith Lord or blared out random comments like, "This pig says oink."

Jason was too distracted to pay much attention to the exhibits, but they were about the Grand Canyon and the Hualapai tribe, which owned to museum.

Some girls kept looking over at Piper and Dylan and snickering. Jason figured these girls were the popular clique as they wore matching jeans and pink tops and enough makeup for a Halloween party.

One of them said, "Hey, Piper, does your tribe run this place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?"

The other girls laughed. Even Dylan suppressed a smile. Piper's snowboarding jacket hid her hands, but Jason got the feeling she was clenching her fists.

"My dad's Cherokee." she said. "Not Hualapai. 'Course you'd need a few brain cells to know the difference, Isabel."

Isabel, Leo's partner, widened her eyes in mock surprise, so she looked like an owl with a makeup addiction. "Oh, sorry! Was your _mom_ in this tribe? Oh, that's right. You never knew your mom."

Leo glared at Isabel, and Piper charged her, but before a fight could break out, Coach Hedge barked, "Enough back there! Set a good example or I'll bring out the baseball bat!"

The group shuffled to the next exhibit, but the girls kept calling out little comments to Piper.

"Good to be back on the rez?" one asked in a sweet voice.

"Dad's probably too drunk to work," another said with fake sympathy. "That's why she turned klepto."

Piper ignored them, but Jason was ready to punch them himself. He might not remember Piper, or even who he was, but he knew he hated mean kids.

Up ahead, Leo caught his eye and subtly shook his head. _Don't get involved _the look said. _Piper won't appreciate it. _

Jason took a deep breath to steady himself. He heard Aly chuckle under her breath next to him. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

"If they," she nodded at the girls. "Found out who Piper's dad really is, they'd all be bowing down and screaming, 'We're not worthy!"

"What about her dad?"

Aly laughed in disbelief. "You're not kidding? I've only been here a few weeks, and even _I_ know who he is. You really don't remember your girlfriend's dad?"

"I don't even remember _her_, much less her dad." Aly's eyes widened in shock.

"Did you hit your head at practice yesterday or something?" she asked. "You really don't remember any of this?" She gestured around them.

Jason shook his head. "I don't even know who _I _am." Aly bit her lip.

"Okay. When we get back to school, we're going to figure this out." she said decisively. "Coach Hedge won't help now, but we can get you to the nurse or something later."

They reached the far end of the exhibit hall, where a pair of big glass doors led out to a terrace.

"All right, cupcakes," Coach Hedge announced. "You are about to see the Grand Canyon. Try not to break it. The skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. If possible, try to avoid falling over the edge as that would cause me extra paperwork."

The coach opened the doors, and they all stepped outside. The Grand Canyon spread before them, live and in person. Extending over the edge was a horseshoe-shaped walkway made of glass, so you could see right through it.

"Okay, that's pretty cool." Aly admitted.

Jason had to agree. Despite his amnesia and his feeling that he didn't belong there, he couldn't help being impressed.

The canyon was bigger and wider than you could appreciate from a picture. They were so high up that birds circled beneath their feet. Five hundred feet down, a river snaked along the canyon floor. Banks of storm clouds had moved overhead while they'd been inside, casting shadows like angry faces across the cliffs. As far as Jason could see in any direction, red and grey ravines cut through the desert like some crazy god had taken a knife to it.

Jason got a piercing pain behind his eyes. _Crazy gods_… where had he come up with that? He felt as though he was close to something important-something he should know. He also got the unmistakable feeling that he was in danger.

"You all right?" Aly asked. "Please tell me you're not going to throw up over the side."

Jason grabbed the railing. He was shivering and sweating, but it had nothing to do with heights. He blinked, and the pain subsided.

"I'm fine." he managed. "Just a headache."

Thunder rumbled overhead. A cold wind almost knocked him sideways.

"This can't be safe." Aly studied the clouds. "Storm's over us, but it's clear all the way around."

Jason looked up and saw Aly was right. A dark circle of clouds had parked itself over the skywalk, but the rest of the sky in every direction was clear. Jason had a bad feeling about that.

"All right, cupcakes!" Coach Hedge yelled. He frowned at the storm like it bothered him too. "We may have to cut this short, so get to work! Remember, complete sentences!"

They didn't try very hard on the worksheet. For one thing, Jason was too distracted by the storm and his own mixed feelings. For another, he didn't have any idea how to "name three examples of sedimentary strata you observe" or "describe two examples of erosion."

Aly was no help. She kept her eyes fixed on the storm, twisting the ring she wore nervously around her finger.

Finally, Jason couldn't stand the silence anymore. "Hey, Aly?"

"Hm?" she replied distractedly, her eyes still on the clouds.

"We're friends, right?"

"I would probably go with 'aquaintances', but-"

"We _do_ know eachother, though?"

"Last I checked."

"When did we meet? Where? What did we talk about?"

"We-" Aly frowned, tearing her eyes away from the storm. "I don't remember exactly. Maybe when I met Piper? She and I are room mates."

Jason shook his head. "I don't remember you at all. Or anyone else. What if-"

"You're right and we're all wrong?" Aly was studying him intently. "You think you just appeared here this morning, and we've all got fake memories of you?"

A little voice in Jason's head said, _That's exactly what I think. _

But it sounded crazy. Everybody here took him for granted. Everyone acted like he was a normal part of the class-except for Coach Hedge.

"Take the worksheet." Jason handed Aly the paper. "I'll be right back."

Before Aly could protest, Jason headed across the skywalk.

The school group had the place to themselves. Maybe it was too early in the day for tourists, or maybe the weird weather had scared them off. Leo was standing next to Isabel, fashioning what appeared to be a helicopter out of various parts he was pulling out of the pockets of his army jacket. About fifty feet away, Piper was trying to fill out her worksheet, but her stupid partner Dylan was hitting on her, putting his arm around her shoulder and giving her that blinding white smile. She kept pushing him away, and when she saw Jason she gave him a look like, _Throttle this guy for me_.

Jason motioned for her to hang on. He walked up to Coach Hedge, who was leaning on his baseball bat, studying the storm clouds.

"Did you do this?" the coach asked him.

Jason took a step back. "Do what?" It sounded like the coach had just asked if he'd made the thunderstorm.

Coach Hedge glared at him, his beady little eyes glinting under the brim of his cap. "Don't play games with me, kid. What are you doing here, and why are you messing up my job?"

"You mean… you _don't _know me?" Jason said. "I'm not one of your students?"

Hedge snorted. "Never seen you before today."

Jason was so relieved he almost wanted to cry. At least he wasn't going insane. He _was_ in the wrong place. "Look, sir, I don't know how I got here. I just woke up on the school bus. All I know is I'm not supposed to be here."

"Got that right." Hedge's gruff voice dropped to a murmur, like he was sharing a secret. "You've got a powerful way with the Mist, kid, if you can make all these people think they know you; but you can't fool me. I've been smelling monster for days now. I knew we had an infiltrator, but you don't smell like a monster. You smell like a half-blood. So-who are you, and where'd you come from?"

Most of what the Coach said didn't make sense, but Jason decided to answer honestly. "I don't know who I am. I don't have any memories. You've got to help me."

Coach Hedge studied his face like he was trying to read Jason's thoughts.

"Great," Hedge said. "You're being truthful."

"Of course I am! And what was all that about monsters and half-bloods? Are those code words or something?"

Hedge narrowed his eyes. Part of Jason wondered if the guy was just nuts. But the other part knew better.

"Look, kid," Hedge said. "I don't know who you are. I just know _what_ you are, and it means trouble. Now I have to protect four of you instead of three. Are you the special package? Is that it?"

"What are you talking about?"

Hedge looked at the storm. The clouds were getting thicker and darker, hovering right over the skywalk.

"This morning," Hedge said, "I got a message from camp. They said an extraction team was on the way. They're coming to pick up a special package, but they wouldn't give me details. I thought to myself, Fine. The three I'm watching are pretty powerful, older than most. I know they're being stalked. I can smell a monster in the group. I figure that's why camp is suddenly frantic to pick them up. But then _you_ pop up out of nowhere. So, are you the special package?"

The pain behind Jason's eyes got worse than ever. _Half-bloods. Camp. Monsters. _He still didn't know what Hedge was talking about, but the words gave him a massive brain freeze-like his mind was trying to access information that should have been there, but wasn't.

He stumbled, and Coach Hedge caught him. For a short guy, the coach had hands like steel. "Woah, there, cupcake. You say you have no memories, huh? Fine. I'll just have to watch you too, till the team gets here. We'll let the director figure things out."

"What director?" Jason asked. "What camp?"

"Just sit tight. Reinforcements will be here soon. Hopefully nothing happens before-"

Lightning crackled overhead. The wind picked up with a vengence. Worksheets flew into the Grand Canyon, and the entire bridge shuddered. Kids screamed, stumbling and grabbing the rails.

"I had to say something." Hedge grumbled. He bellowed into his megaphone: "Everyone inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!"

"I thought you said this thing was stable!" Jason shouted over the wind.

"Under normal circumstances," Hedge agreed. "Which these aren't. Come on!"

**A.N: This is not completely copy and paste from ****_The Lost Hero_****. Aly is my OC, but there are certain logistical things I haven't worked out yet (when she will be claimed, when to give her POV chapters, etc.) so I will be sticking close to the text until then. But I also want to develop other characters besides Aly, so she won't be the only one I focus on.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! I'll be updating soon.**

_**No mourners, no funerals**_


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N: Hi all! This is a re-upload, since I noticed several spelling and grammatical errors. As it is, it's still not perfect. But then again, writing rarely is. This chapter still sticks heavily to the text, but it diverges more than the first chapter. As always, I own nothing. Please enjoy!**

_**No mourners, no funerals**_

**Jason ll**

The storm churned into a miniature hurricane. Funnel clouds snaked toward the skywalk like the tendrails of a monster jellyfish.

Kids screamed and ran for the building. The wind snatched away their notebooks, jackets, hats, and backpacks. Jason skidded across the slick floor.

Leo lost his balance and almost toppled over the railing, but Jason managed to snag his jacket and pull him back.

"Thanks, man!" Leo yelled.

"Go, go, go!" Coach Hedge commanded.

Piper and Dylan were holding the doors open, ushering the kids inside. Piper's snowboarding jacket was flapping wildy, and her dark hair was all in her face. Jason thought she must have been freezing, but she seemed calm and confident-telling the others it would be okay, encouraging them to move.

Jason, Leo, Aly, and Coach Hedge ran toward them, but it was like moving through quicksand. The wind seemed to be fighting them, pushing back and keeping them from their destination.

Dylan and Piper pushed one more kid inside, then lost their grip on the doors. They slammed shut, closing off the skywalk.

Piper tugged at the handles. Inside, kids were pounding on the glass, but it did no good. The doors were stuck.

"Dylan, help!" Piper shouted.

Dylan just stood there with an idiotic grin, his Cowboys jersey rippling in the wind. He suddenly appeared to be enjoying the storm.

"Sorry, Piper," he said. "I'm done helping."

He casually flicked his wrist, and Piper flew backward like a rag doll, slamming into the doors and sliding onto the skywalk deck. Aly screamed.

"Piper!" Jason tried to charge forward, but Coach Hedge pulled him back.

"Coach, let me go!" Jason said, struggling against him.

"Kids, stay behind me." Hedge ordered. "This is my fight. I should've known that was our monster."

"What?" Leo demanded. A rogue worksheet slapped him in the face, but he swatted it away. "What monster?"

The coach's cap blew off. Sticking out from his head were two bumps-like the kind cartoon characters got from being bonked on the head. He hefted his baseball bat-except it wasn't a regular bat anymore. Somehow it had changed into a crudely shaped tree branch club, leaves still attached and everything.

Dylan gave the coach his signature pyscho happy smile. "Oh, come on! Let the boy attack me! After all, you're getting too old for this. Isn't that why they _retired_ you out here?

I've been on your team this entire season, and you didn't even notice. You're losing your nose, grandpa."

The coach made an angry sound like an animal bleating. "That's it, cupcake. You're going down!"

"You think you can protect four half-bloods at once, old man? Good luck." Dylan laughed.

He pointed a finger at Leo, and a funnel cloud materialized around him. Leo flew off the skywalk like he'd been tossed. Somehow, he managed to twist midair and slammed sideways into the canyon wall. He skidded, clawing furiously for a handhold. Finally, he grabbed a thin ledge about fifty feet below the skywalk and clung to it by his fingertips.

"Help!" he yelled up at them. "Some rope? A bungee cord? Something?!"

Coach Hedge cursed and tossed Jason his club. "I don't know who you are, kid, but I hope you're good. Keep that _thing_ busy,"-he pointed his thumb at Dylan-"while I go get Leo."

"Get him how?" Jason demanded. "Can you fly?"

"Not fly. Climb." Hedge kicked off his shoes and Jason almost had a coronary. The coach didn't have any feet. Instead, he had hooves-goat hooves. Which meant those things on his head weren't bumps-they were horns.

"You're a faun." Jason realized. Aly, who'd been staring open mouthed at Hedge, whipped around to face Jason increduously.

"A _what_?" she demanded.

At the same time, Coach Hedge snapped, "I'm a satyr. Fauns are Roman. But we'll talk about that later."

Hedge leaped over the railing. He sailed toward the canyon wall and hit it hooves first. He bounded down the cliff with impossible agility, finding footholds no bigger than a postage stamp, dodging whirlwinds as he picked his way to Leo.

"Isn't that cute!" Dylan turned toward Jason. "Now it's your turn, boy."

Jason threw the club. It seemed impossible with the wind, but the club hurled straight at Dylan, even curving when he tried to dodge, and smacked him on the head hard enough to make him fall to his knees.

Piper wasn't as dazed as she appeared. Her fingers closed around the club when it rolled toward her, but before she could use it, Dylan rose. Blood-golden blood-trickled from his forehead.

"Nice try, boy." he glared at Jason. "But you'll have to do better than that."

The skywalk shuddered. Hairline fractures appeared in the glass. Inside the museum, kids stopped pounding on the doors. They backed away, watching in terror.

Dylan's body dissolved into smoke as if his molecules were becoming unglued. He had the same face (complete with the stupid blinding smile) but his whole form was suddenly composed of swirling black vapor, his eyes like electrical sparks in a storm cloud. He sported black smoky wings and rose above the skywalk. If angels could be evil, Jason decided, they would look exactly like this.

"You're a _ventus_." Jason decided, though he had no idea how he knew that. "A storm spirit."

Dylan laughed. "I'm glad I waited, demigod. The other three I've known about for weeks. Could've killed them at any time. But my mistress said a fourth was coming-someone special. She'll reward me greatly for your death!"

"Your mistress?" Aly sounded terrified. When Jason glanced at her, she'd become as pale as a sheet. "Why would she tell you to kill all of us?"

Dylan laughed derisively. "I doubt my mistress is anyone _you_ know, girl." He glanced at the sky, which was becoming darker by the minute. "But we've spent enough time talking."

Two more funnel clouds touched down on either side of Dylan and turned into _venti_-ghostly young men with smoky wings and flickering eyes.

Piper stayed down, pretending to be dazed, but her hand was still gripping the club. Her face was pale, but she gave Jason a determined look, and he understood the message: _Keep them distracted. I'll brain them from behind. _

Cute, smart, _and_ violent. Jason wished he remembered having her for a girlfriend.

He clenched his fists and got ready to charge, but he never got the chance.

Dylan raised his hand, arcs of electricity running through his fingers, and blasted Jason in the chest.

_Bang! _Jason found himself flat on his back. His mouth tasted like burning aluminum foil. The lightning bolt had gone straight through his body and blasted off his left shoe. His toes were black with soot.

The storm spirits were laughing. The winds raged. Aly was calling his name while Piper screamed defiantly, but it all seemed tinny and far away.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jason saw Coach Hedge picking his way back to the skywalk, Leo slung over his shoulder. Piper was on her feet, desperately swinging the club to fend off the other two spirits, but they were just toying with her. The club went straight through their bodies as if they weren't there. Aly was kneeling next to him, with her fingers on his wrist. He guessed she was checking his pulse. And Dylan, a dark and winged tornado with eyes, loomed over Jason.

"Stop." Jason croaked. He rose unsteadily to his feet, and he wasn't sure who was more surprised: him, or the storm spirits.

"How are you alive?" Dylan's form flickered uneasily. "That was enough lightning to kill twenty men!"

"My turn." Jason said.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the gold coin. He let his instincts take over, and he flipped the coin in the air like he'd done it hundreds of times. He caught it in his palm, and suddenly he was holding a sword-a wickedly sharp double-edged weapon. The ridged grip fit his fingers perfectly, and the whole thing was solid gold-hilt, handle, and blade.

Dylan snarled and backed up. He looked at his comrades and ordered, "Well? Kill him!"

The other two storm spirits didn't look too happy with that order, but they flew at Jason, their fingers crackling with electricity.

Jason swung at the first strom spirit. His blade passed through it, and the smoky form disentigrated. The second spirit let loose a bolt of lightning, but Jason's blade absorbed the charge. Jason stepped in-one quick thrust and the spirit dissolved into gold dust.

Dylan wailed in outrage. He looked down as if expecting his friends to reform, but their gold dust remained scattered in the wind. "Impossible! Who _are_ you, half-blood?"

Piper was so stunned she dropped her club. "Jason, how…?"

Then, Coach Hedge leaped on to the skywalk and dumped Leo like a sack of flour.

"Spirits, fear me!" Hedge flexed his short arms. Then he looked around and realized there was only Dylan.

"Curse it boy!" he snapped, glaring at Jason. "Didn't you leave any for me? I like a challenge!"

Leo got to his feet, breathing hard. He looked completely humiliated, his hands scraped and bleeding from the rocks. "Yo, Coach Supergoat, whatever you are-I just fell down the Grand Canyon! Stop asking for challenges!"

Dylan hissed at them, but Jason could see that his eyes were full of fear. "You have no idea what you've done, demigod. My mistress will destroy _all_ half-bloods. This is a war you _cannot_ win."

Above them, the storm exploded into a full force gale. Cracks expanded on the skywalk. Sheets of rain poured down and Jason had to crouch to keep his balance.

A hole opened in the clouds-a swirling vortex of black and silver.

"My mistress call me back!" Dylan shouted with glee. "And you, demigod, are coming with me!"

He lunged at Jason, but Piper tackled him from behind. Even though he was made of smoke, Piper managed to make contact. Both went sprawling. Jason and the others surged forward to help, but the spirit screamed with rage. He let loose a torrent that knocked them backwards. Aly was knocked flat on her back. Jason and Coach Hedge landed on their butts. Jason's sword skidded accross the glass. Leo hit his head, and curled up on his side, dazed and groaning. Piper got the worst of it. She was thrown off Dylan's back and over the railing, tumbling over the side until she was hanging on by one hand over the abyss.

Jason started towards her, but Dylan screamed, "Fine! I'll settle for this one!"

He grabbed Leo's arm and began to rise, towing a half concious Leo below him. The storm spun faster, pulling them upwards like a vaccum cleaner.

"Help!" Piper yelled. "Somebody!"

Then she slipped, screaming as she fell.

"Jason, go!" Hedge yelled. "Save her!"

"How the hell is he supposed to save her?!" Aly demanded, pushing herself to her feet. "And what about Leo?"

The coach launched himself at Dylan. With some serious goat-fu, he lashed out with his hooves, and Leo dropped safely to the ground. But the spirit grabbed Hedge's arm instead, and the coach was unable to get free despite his kicking and head-butting. The two rose in the air, gaining speed.

Coach Hedge shouted down once more, "Save her! I've got this!" Then the satyr and storm spirit spiraled into the clouds and disappeared.

_Save her? _Jason thought. _She's gone! _

But his instincts won again. He ran to the railing (behind him, he heard Aly scream, "Jason, what the f-!") and jumped over the side.

Jason wasn't scared of heights. He was scared of smashing into the canyon floor five hundred feet below. He probably hadn't accomplished anything except dying with Piper, but he tucked in his arms and plummeted head first. The sides of the canyon raced by like a film on fast forward. His face felt like it was peeling off.

In a heartbeat, he caught up with Piper, who was flailing wildly. He grabbed her by the waist and closed his eyes, waiting for death. Piper screamed. The wind whistled in his ears. He wondered what dying would feel like. He wished that, somehow, they would never hit the bottom.

Suddenly, the wind died. Piper's scream turned into a strangled gasp. Jason thought they must be dead, but he hadn't felt any impact.

"J-J-Jason." Piper managed.

He opened his eyes. They weren't falling. They were floating midair, about a hundred feet above the canyon floor.

He hugged Piper tightly, and she repositioned herself so she was facing him too. They were nose to nose. Her heart beat so hard, Jason could feel it through her clothes.

Her breath smelled like cinnamon. She said, "How did you-"

"I didn't." Jason said. "I think I would know if I could fly…"

But then he thought, _I don't even know who I am. _

He imagined going up. Piper yelped as they shot a few feet higher. They weren't exactly floating, Jason decided. He could feel pressure under his feet, like he was balancing on top of a gyser.

"The air is supporting us." he decided.

"Well, tell it to support us more! Get us out of here!"

Jason looked down. The easiest thing to do would be to float to the canyon floor. Then he looked up. The storm clouds didn't seem as bad, but they were still rumbling and flashing with lightning. There was no guarantee that the spirits were gone for good. He had no idea what had happened to Coach Hedge. Leo was barely concious, and Aly was probably sick with worry.

"We have to help them." It was as if Piper had read his mind. "Can you-"

"Let's see." Jason thought, _Up_, and instantly they shot skyward.

At any other time, riding the wind would have been amazing. But now, all Jason could think about were his friends. As soon as they landed on the skywalk, they ran to where Leo was laying with Aly kneeling beside him. She'd taken off her sweatshirt and was using it to put pressure on Leo's head wound, which left her in only a grey t-shirt. She was staring at Jason in shock.

"Wh-how did you do that?" she demanded.

"I wish I knew." Jason told her, as Piper crouched on Leo's other side.

"Is he alright?" she asked, looking at the bloodied sweatshirt. Aly nodded, lifting the garment to check.

"Head wounds look worse than they actually are, because they tend to bleed a lot. This is a shallow cut, I doubt he'll even need stitches. Still, we should get him to a hospital if he doesn't wake up soon."

As if on cue, Leo let out a groan. All three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

"Stupid-ugly-goat." he muttered.

Piper turned to Aly. "Where did he go?"

"Up into the storm. Never came down." she looked troubled, but she focused on Leo. "Leo, how many fingers am I holding up?" she asked, waving three fingers in front of his face.

"Uh, three?" Leo asked. Aly nodded, dropping her hand.

"We should still have a medical professional look at him. I don't think he has a concussion, but I don't have the equipment to run all the tests."

"Speaking of, how are we getting out of here?" Piper frowned. No-one offered anything.

Suddenly, Jason realized he'd forgotten about the sword. He leaned down and picked it up by the hilt. On a hunch, he flipped it. Midspin, the sword shrank back into a coin that Jason caught in his palm.

"Uh, Aly, are you sure I don't have a concusion?" Leo asked. "'Cause I'm pretty sure I'm hallucinating."

"Well, if you're hallucinating, so am I." Aly replied. Somehow, she seemed fine, although she was soaked to the bone. Was it Jason's imagination, or did she look healthier than she had earlier?

Contrary to Aly, Piper shivered in her rain soaked clothes. "Jason, those things-"

"_Venti_." he said. "Storm spirits."

"You acted like you'd seen them before. Who are you?"

He shook his head. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. I don't know."

The storm dissipated. The other kids from the school were staring out the doors in horror. Security was working on the locks now, but they weren't having much luck.

"Coach Hedge said he had to protect four people." Jason remembered. "I think he meant us."

"And that thing Dylan turned into… ugh, it was _hitting_ on me." Piper shuddered. "It called us what, demigods?"

"I don't know what _demi_ means." said Leo from his position on the ground. He didn't look too anxious to get up. "But I'm not feeling too godly. Are you guys feeling godly?"

There was a brittle sound like dry twigs snapping, and the cracks in the skywalk began to widen.

"We need to get off this thing." Jason decided. "Maybe we can-"

"Ohh-kay." Leo said. "Look up there and tell me if those are flying horses."

At first, Jason thought Leo _had_ hit his head too hard. Then he saw a dark shape descending from the east-too slow to be a plane and too large to be a bird. As it got closer, he could see a pair of winged animals-grey, four legged-exactly like a horse except for each had a twenty foot wingspan. And they were pulling a brightly painted box with wheels-a chariot.

"Reinforcements." Jason said. "Hedge told me there was an extraction squad coming for us."

"Extraction squad?" Aided by Aly, Leo struggled to his feet. He winced. "That sounds painful."

"And where are they extracting us _to_?" Piper asked.

Jason watched as the chariot landed on the far end of the skywalk. The horses tucked in their wings and cantered nervously across the glass, as if they could sense how unstable it was. Two teenagers stood in the chariot- a tall blonde girl who looked a bit older than Jason, and a bulky dude with a shaved head and a face like a pile of bricks. They both wore jeans and orange t-shirts, with shields strapped across their backs. The girl leaped off before the chariot had even finished moving. She pulled out a knife and ran towards Jason's group while the other guy was reigning in the horses.

"Where is he?" she demanded. Her grey eyes were fierce and a little startling.

"Where's who?" Jason asked.

She frowned like his answer was unnacceptable. Then she turned to Piper and Leo, who was still being supported by Aly. "What about your protector, Gleeson Hedge?"

The coach's first name was Gleeson? Jason might've laughed if the morning hadn't been so wierd and scary. Gleeson Hedge: football coach, goat man, protector of demigods. Sure, why not?

Leo cleared his throat. "He got taken by some… tornado things."

"_Venti_." Jason clarifyed.

The girl arched an eyebrow. "You mean _anemoi thuellai_? That's the Greek term. Who are you, and what happened?"

Jason did his best to explain, though it was hard to meet those intense grey eyes. About halfway through the story, the guy from the chariot came over. He stood there glaring at them, his arms crossed. He had a rainbow tattoo on his bicep, which seemed a little unusual.

When Jason had finished his story, the blonde girl didn't look satisfied. "No, no, no! She _told_ me he would be here! She promised that if I came here, I'd find the answer!"

"Annabeth," the bald guy grunted. "Check it out." He pointed at Jason's feet.

Jason hadn't given it much thought, but he was still missing his left shoe, which had been blown off by lightning. His bare foot felt okay, though it looked like a lump of charcoal.

"The guy with one shoe." the bald guy continued. "He's the answer."

"No, Butch." the girl insisted. "He's not the one. I've been tricked." She glared at the sky as though it had done something wrong. "What do you want from me?!" she screamed. "What have you done with him?"

The skywalk shuddered, and the horses whinnied urgently.

"Annabeth," said the bald guy, Butch. "We have to leave. Let's get these four back to camp and figure it out there. Those storm spirits might come back."

She fumed for a moment. "Fine." she fixed Jason with a resentful look. "We'll settle this later."

She turned on her heel and marched toward the chariot.

"What's _her_ problem?" Piper asked. "What's going on?"

"Seriously," Leo agreed.

"We have to get you out of here." Butch said. "I'll explain on the way."

"I'm not going anywhere with _her_." Jason gestured toward the blonde. "She looks like she wants to kill me."

Butch hesitated. "Annabeth's okay. You've gotta cut her some slack. She had a vision telling her to come here and find the guy with one shoe. That was supposed to be the answer to her problem."

"What problem?" Aly asked.

"She's been looking for one of our campers who's been missing for three days." Butch said. "She's been going out of her mind with worry. She hoped he'd be here."

"Who?" Jason asked.

"Her boyfriend." said Butch. "A guy named Percy Jackson."

**A.N: Well, I hope you liked it! Don't worry, there will be more demigod drama in the future! With some Grisha grievances thrown in there too, off course. Please leave a review, any constructive criticism is welcome. **

_**No mourners, no funerals**_


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